


Bench Buddies

by Shepherd_Queen



Category: Friends (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Friendship, Gen, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 07:31:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15836631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shepherd_Queen/pseuds/Shepherd_Queen
Summary: "Who are you hiding from?" "My annoying sisters, Amy and Jill. Who are you hiding from?" "My dad, he wants to showcase me as a model."Teenage Rachel and Chandler meet. Canon compliant, MC&RR friendly.





	Bench Buddies

Fifteen-year-old Chandler Bing was bored out of his mind; he couldn’t understand why his parents insisted that he come to this function. Everyone present tonight were either very rich, very old, had a stick up their asses, or all of the above.  
  
The only reason Nora and Charles—he refused to call them Mom and Dad—probably brought him along was so they could get more attention from these elite Long Islanders. Charles was parading the teenager around, pretending to be his pimp by showcasing his pretty-boy looks and how he’d make a good model. Nora just wanted to show off her supposedly _beautiful_ son.  
  
_Beautiful? Ha!_ Chandler looked at himself in a hallway mirror. He hadn’t reached puberty while ninety-nine percent of his class had. He was tall, gangly, wore braces, his hair was too long—but Charles liked it that way—and he had bad acne. Chandler desperately wanted a haircut, he wanted those horrid braces off, he wanted his body to function properly like the rest of his class, and he wanted the awful acne gone.  
  
Chandler pulled out a box of Camel cigarettes from his jacket pocket.  
  
“Chandler! Where are you?” He heard his mother call him from down the hall.  
  
_Shit, it’s like she knows!_ Chandler stuffed the box back in his pocket and looked around, hoping to find an escape. He was gutted to find there were none except a door leading outside to the back yard, Chandler presumed.  
  
Upon hearing his mother’s approaching footsteps, Chandler decided that he was going through the door. Although guests weren’t allowed in that part of the property, he _had_ to escape his mother. He made a run for the door, quickly opening and rushed out. Once he had shut the door gently behind him, Chandler let out a sigh of relief. He was _finally_ away from all those stuck-up people inside.  
  
But most of all, Chandler was glad to be away from his embarrassing parents.  
  
Chandler expected the dimly-lit back yard to be empty, but he could see a brunette sitting on a bench underneath the large oak tree. Chandler debated for a moment on whether or not he should approach her, and decided it was best to. Maybe she felt just as bad as he did and wanted some company.  
  
After all, what’s the worse thing that could happen? He would never see her again.  
  
……  
  
Rachel Green was miserable; she could _not_ believe her parents asked her to watch after Jill and Amy while they mingled! Did they not realize how annoying and psychotic these two girls were? They were demons posing as an eight and eleven year old girl. She, Rachel, wanted nothing to do with her sisters.  
  
She was fourteen, after all; practically a grown up. Her sisters weren’t even teenagers yet! Amy was in the sixth grade and Jill was in the third grade. Rachel, on the other hand, was beginning high school in a couple weeks. Amy and Jill had a long way to go before they could be hip like their sister; no matter how hard they tried.  
  
_“But, Mom!” Rachel had whined. “I don’t want to look after Amy and Jill! I would rather be home, looking after my pony. Why can’t I just go home?”  
  
“Rachel,” her mother, Sandra Green, began sternly. “You _ will _watch your sisters while your father and I socialize with these people. We do this just once a year, and you should feel privileged we decided to bring you and your sister this year. Go find some friends, I’m sure they are around somewhere.”  
  
Rachel rolled her eyes and looked at Amy and Jill with disgust. They were a complete nightmare and there was no way her friends were going to be here tonight! They were probably at a slumber party, she had thought sadly.  
  
“You’ll have no problem looking after your sisters, pumpkin,” her father, Leonard Green, said as he pat his eldest daughter on the shoulder in what was meant to be a comforting gesture. Rachel, however, felt nothing but misery._  
  
That had been half an hour ago. Rachel found the perfect opportunity to escape when Amy and Jill found some boys to begin a conversation with. She knew she should not be allowing her preteen sisters to mingle with boys; but Rachel couldn’t have care less. Instead of stopping the conversation, and dragging Amy and Jill away, she turned around and headed outside to the empty back yard.  
  
Rachel never felt more alone than she did right now. She was not the type of person to be _alone_ ; at school, she was one of the most popular person in their entire class. With a sigh, Rachel sat down on a bench under a large oak tree, wondering what her friends were doing right now. _They’re probably watching The Breakfast Club and eating popcorn in their pajamas._  
  
……  
  
“Hey,” Chandler approached the girl sitting on the bench. He stuck his hands deep in his pockets and shuffled his feet, feeling slightly awkward. He had never been good talking to girls; but he didn’t go to a school that had girls and if he made an idiot out of himself, well… He would never see this girl again, so it didn’t really matter.  
  
The girl looked up and remained quietly, looking at him carefully. Chandler understood why, it was general consensus to not talk to strangers, and this girl was probably told that exact thing. He, on the other hand, had parents who never told him the whole _stranger danger_ and _don’t take candy from strangers_ stuff.  
  
“I- uh- I’m Chandler.” He introduced himself. The girl nodded, a smile on her face.  
  
“Rachel. You can sit if you want.”  
  
“What are you doing out here by yourself?” Chandler took a seat next to the girl.  
  
“I could ask you the same thing.”  
  
“You hiding from anyone?”  
  
Rachel nodded, sighing.  
  
“My annoying sisters, Amy and Jill; well, actually, they found some guys to talk to that are way too old for them. Whatever.” Rachel shrugged. “How about you?”  
  
“My dad, he wants to showcase me as a model.” Chandler realized what he had just said but it was too late. Rachel gave him a strange look, and he got a cold feeling in the pit of the stomach. Of course he had to something stupid; but he reminded himself he would never see this girl again, so it didn’t really matter what he said.  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“He’s, uh, you know what? Let’s not talk about my dad.” Chandler laughed nervously. _Why are you nervous? Come on, it’s not like you’ll ever see this girl again._  
  
“Okay, whatever. So, you live around here?”  
  
“No, I live in Flushing, in Queens. You?”  
  
“You know the movie The Amityville Horror?”  
  
“Oh, yeah, I’ve heard of it. So you live in that town?”  
  
“No, about half an hour away.”  
  
“Chandler! There you are!” Chandler cringed at the sound of his mother’s voice. “You know you are not supposed to be out here. Come inside this instant.”  
  
“ _That’s_ your mother?” He knew what Rachel was thinking, based on that _dress_ Nora Bing was wearing, how the hell could she be anyone’s mother?  
  
“Don’t ask. I should get going. Nice to meet you, Rachel.” Chandler stood.  
  
“Nice to meet you, Chandler; I should probably go inside too, check on my sisters.  
  
“Are you out here talking to a girl, Chandler? Your father will be so disappointed.” Nora’s voice was heavy with sarcasm. She took a large swig of her beverage.  
  
“Yeah, yeah.” Chandler muttered, heading towards the open door where his mother stood with a glare on her face, one hand on her hips.  
  
“Don’t you talk to me like that, young man!” Nora shut the door behind them.  
  
“I’m sorry, _Mom_.” Chandler already wished he was still outside with Rachel.


End file.
